Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Your Personal Penguin


Fifteen years ago tonight, my entire life changed. Sitting in the passenger side seat of my Valentine's Chevy Cavalier, trying to warm up after walking through a bitter winter wind, the path of my life changed forever. The flowers had been beautiful. The Toad the Wet Sprocket CDs were awesome. The candy, delicious. But the little velvet box sitting in the palm of his hand...

I'd been teased about it all day long. "What are you going to do if he pops out a ring?" everyone had asked, and I'd just rolled my eyes. We hadn't been dating that long, just a few short months. Both of us had recently broken off serious relationships. And, uh, newsflash- I was NINETEEN for crying out loud! Emphasis on the "teen"! There would be no rings!

And then there was.

It wasn't an engagement ring, he was quick to explain. It was a promise, a promise he wanted to make to me. I'll admit that I didn't hear the rest as well as I should have. I was too busy staring wide eyed at that tiny twinkle underneath the thin light of a parking lot arc-sodium. It mesmerized me. Suddenly, I took a ninety degree turn from the path I had been clumsily navigating. Maybe it wasn't "smart". Maybe it wasn't what my parents wanted me to do. Maybe it wasn't what I "should" have done. But I didn't care. I wanted 
him.

Fifteen years later, and it's Valentine's night. Fifteen years, 3 kids, four states, seven houses, three cats, two dogs, and a brief assortment of fish later. We've dealt with the harshest of heartbreak and the greatest of personal triumphs. We learned to rely on only each other as we moved far away from family and friends. We've celebrated rauccously, and we've grieved deeply. We've grown and changed, some for the better, some for the worse. And I realize now, just shy of February 15th, that I wouldn't have changed a thing. Well, maybe one or two things.

There are rough spots along the road, and sometimes you get stuck. That's when you need each other, to lend a hand and dig your way out, and help you celebrate the triumph. That's when you need...

A Personal Penguin.

I've always loved Sandra Boynton, and this was one of my favorite books. And tonight, on this Valentine's Day, I want to tell my special Flake... as much now as fifteen years ago... I want to be your Personal Penguin.

Love you Babe.
(look babe! Sims!)


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